The difference is subtle, but when you rhink of it, you will see both sets need different sets of skills aside from accuracy of shooting.
+1
Actually,
@Ray sir once told that Indian army did not have any dedicated sniper training school, but marksman training is done. I guess that is why Dragonov, being a semi auto and having parts interchangeable with AK47, has been chosen for IA.
Still I may be wrong.
@ALBY,
@pmaitra,
@bengalraider,
@Shaitan @SajeevJino @rock127 @ghost et al, if you guys find I am wring or more info is needed, please educate.
Not many parts are interchangeable with the AKM, but Dragunov can use the PKM 7.62x54R rounds.
It is very important to understand the differences between what went into making the Kalashnikov and what went into making the Dragunov. Kalashnikov was a soldier, while Dragunov was an engineer whose job was to make rifles for sporting events, such as the Olympics.
My 2 cents on it:
Difference between marksman and sniper:
A sniper is a specialised person who not only specialised in shooting skills but also in many other traits, such as intelligence gathering,concealment,identifing targets,communication,how to get in and get out of hostile enemy area undetected and whole set of other skills.A sniper generally work in small team in which there is an observer ,sniper and security provider .Snipers operates in their own team but they can be attached to fireteams on special mission or request,they generally stalk from an overwatch or concealed postion.Their weapons ,gear,clothing,equipment all are specialised to suit their needs.They have different variety of equipments and wepons available to them to choose from as per there mission requirement.Sniper are a special breed , it takes a lot more than just being a good shooter to become a sniper.
A marksman is the best shooter in a fireteam .He is the part of regular fireteam , apart from some training to enhance his shooting skills he does not specacilize in any other set of skills and is similar to regular infantry soldier.They are mobile and move along with the rest of the fireteam.The main purpose of marksman is to enhance range of the fire team and to take down importan target as directed during firefight such as machine gunner,sniper,enemy leader or some other important target as ordered by his team leader.His gear ,clothes are similar to other members of fireteam.In short, he is a regular infantry soldier with enhanced shooting skills.
+1
Difference between Sniper rifle and marksman rifle:
Sniper rifle:
A sniper rifle is a specialized rifle built specifically to enhance range and accuracy.It has longer barrel,specalize design,stock ,trigger,bipod and many other features design specially to facitlate pinpoint accuracy.They vary from being bolt action , semiautomatic or antimaterial rifles.It uses specialized ammo.It has special scopes with enhanced magnification , range correction and many other features.The main purpose of sniper rifle is to provide pin point accuracy at all ranges.
Marksman rifle:
This is generally an assault rifle with slightly longer barrel and a scope with some magnification.It is semiautomatic and some cases automatic,it generally uses the same ammo as the rest of fireteam.Even though it has slightly enhance range it is not as long as a dedicated sniper rifle.Nowadays people have started manufacturing specialize marksman rifle which have some additional features to improve accuracy.The main purpose of marksman rifle is to enhance range of the fireteam.It has a greater range than assault rifle but less than a sniper rifle.There are many rifles which are used by both snipers and marksman such as M14 rifle with scope and M110 rifle.
Here, the differences are blurred and subjective.
It is true, a marksman's rifle is generally an accurate assault rifle with a scope. The pictures below depict the FN-FAL with a scope, although the source from which this is borrowed calls this a sniper rifle.
Indian Army sniper/marksman with an FN-FAL
Indian Army snipers/marksmen with FN-FALs
RR marksman with Dragunov SVD.
That is more about the role of the user, not about the rifle being used. Dragunov is, by its official designation, a sniper rifle.
In short, here are the sniper rifles used by the Indian Army (excluding special forces and forces not under the Ministry of Defence, such as BSF, etc.)
- Heckler & Koch MSG90 Sniper Rifle (7.62 x 51 NATO)
- Mauser SP66 Sniper Rifle (7.62 x 51 NATO)
- SVD-59 Dragunov Sniper Rifle (7.62 x 54R)
Of the three rifles above, if we look at the rounds they fire, the Dragunov is the most distinguished as a sniper rifle, while the other two are in the gray area, and can be considered both, a sniper rifle as well as a marksman's rifle. The basic point is, there is not much to differentiate between the two.
Here is an example:
Indian Army sniper with a Dragunov
Here is an important thread:
http://defenceforumindia.com/forum/threads/snipers-in-indian-army.12127/
Please read the posts by
@Kunal Biswas and
@Ray Sir. They are authoritative.